Round Up: December 3

Here are a couple of things that may be of interest:

1. Federal employees earn more then private workers
2. PS hiring under fire
3. Audit finds fault with 14% of top bureaucratic appointments
   
4. Failure to Accept Responsibility is a Failure to Lead c/o Havard Business Publishing

Also you may notice that we have added some new ways to get in touch with us on the right hand side of the page, we now have links to both our GCPEDIA and facebook profiles. You can also now follow me on twitter. I am trying to deepen our use of social media to foster discussion on public service renewal. In addition to this, Mike and I would like to do some podcasting or even set up a youtube channel, but we really don't have the time right now.

Cheers... and keep your eye on the Governor General. Interesting times ahead.

Round-Up: November 24th

Things inside the GoC

1. PCO put up a power point presentation from a PS Recruitment fair.
2. The fall edition of Its my day is up and running.
3. You probably want to read the speech from the throne if you haven't already. Here is the relevant snippet on Public Service Renewal:

The Public Service of Canada is a key national institution. Public servants inspect our food and police our borders. They deliver programs and services to millions of Canadians in every region of this country, from our largest cities to the most remote Arctic communities. Drawing on the recommendations of the Prime Minister’s Advisory Committee on the Public Service, our Government is committed to the continued renewal of the Public Service.

News

1. Don't ignore value of digital generation
2. PS faces forced wage controls
3. Ottawa public servants face stagnant wages, fewer colleagues
4. Unions need to wake up to the reality of today's economy
5. How clerk's job moved to the centre of power
6. Federal public service faces challenge of renewal
7. Civil service hiring outlook remains healthy

Blogs

1. What's the Fuss Over Leadership? c/o Etienne
2. On-the-Spot Job Offers: Real Solution or Quick Fix? (c/o Etienne - we really like this one!)
3. For What it's Worth c/o Paul Crookall @ CGEM. (I was also @ the Osbaldeston Lecture, I hope to provide my reaction in the future, but in the interim you can get the flavour of the lecture from Paul's blog posting.)

Interesting Armchairs being offered @ CSPS

1. Depression Was Not Part of my Career plan (EN/FR)
2. Bottom Up Change: It Starts with an Individual (EN/FR) (by our Friend Etienne Laliberté)
3. Government Blogging - Best Practices and Tips for Success (by our friend Mike Kujawski)

Other things of interest

1. 10 Ways to Make Office Slacker Pull His Weight

Round-Up October 20

News

1. BC Public Service ranks in the Top 50 employeers in BC (ranked # 4)
2. Here are the top 100 rankings nationally, all we are saying is have a look.
3. Hard financial times could mean a freeze on public service hiring.

Other Publications

I came across this interesting read from the OECD: Cultural Change in Government: Promoting a High-Performance Culture.

Here is are a couple of excerpts worth sharing:

(Intro): No organization can remain the same without loosing relevancy in a changing society. Governments are now part of a global movement that has been described by many (Barzelay, 2001; Hood, 2000; Kim and Moon, 2002) as an era of new public management (NPM). Public cynicism and frustration with government have led to many policy developments to provide catalysts for high performance organizations. The current challenge is not to determine whether to change but how to change to increase organizational effectiveness and global competitiveness. In order to respond to such challenges, many organizations attempt to carry out various organizational initiatives. Without an alteration of the fundamental values and expectations of organizations of individuals change remains superficial and short-term in duration. Failed attempts to change often produce cynicism, frustration, loss of trust, and deterioration of morale amongst organization members.

(Culture Change): Human organizations build up tremendous inertia over time, and it takes tremendous initiative and determination to budge them. It takes large amounts of energy for people to shift beliefs, habits, thinking, and rationale away from how things have always been done. Such changes require a long-term commitment and sustained application of time and energy from leadership and the organization (Fitzgerald, 1988). It is also critical that the cultural-change processes are viewed as ongoing, not as a project with an end. Senior leaders should be directly supported by a personal executive coach for at least the first few years of the change process so that they can sustain the commitment and effectiveness in role modelling the new cultural behaviors. It is important to point out that if the leaders do not change, culture will not change (Crane, 2002: 205).

(Creating a High Performance Culture): High-performance organizations also recognize that all employees-both those involved directly in the mission and mission support help create organizational value and that job processes, tools, and mission support arrangements must be tailored to support mission accomplishment. A dedication to continuous learning and improvement can not only help an agency respond to change but also to anticipate change, create new opportunities and pursue a shared vision that is ambitious. Incentives that are result-oriented, citizen-based and realistic are particularly important in steering the workforce and subject to balanced measures that reveal the multiple dimensions of performance. Incentives should be part of a performance management system under which employee performance expectations are aligned with the agency missionstatement, and in which personal accountability for performance is reinforced by both rewards and consequences.

(Practical Application): ... those who lead government reform should persuade and/or communicate with ordinary government employees for better understanding and broader participation. Without such efforts, the simple delivery of reform measures from the top would be too naïve to succeed. [Enter our Blog]

(Conclusion): Cultural change could happen at different levels ranging from visible to invisible levels. A change in process or policy does not necessarily lead to cultural change. Therefore, it is fair to say that real cultural change requires that the organization's members accept the changed behaviors, beliefs, or assumptions and that the change is sustained over a relatively long period of time.

CPSRENEWAL.CA Weekly: An Interview With a New Hire

In order to shed some light on the on-boarding process, one of the governments new post secondary recruits has agreed to participate in an interview with CSPRenewal.ca [CPSR]. It is my pleasure today to introduce you to New Hire [NH]. Hello NH, thanks for agreeing to speak with us, how are you today?

[NH] Good. Thanks for inviting me.

[CPSR]: Can you speak a little bit about how you wound up working for the federal government?

[NH]: In September ‘07 I was in my last semester of grad school at Carleton. I had just wrapped up a co-op term in the government and was disappointed by how things played out over the 4 months I spent working in the public service. But I decided to give it another go when the Post-Secondary Recruitment Campaigns started up again in late September.

[CPSR]: So, you applied to PSR?

[NH]: Yes, about 7 of the big guns were all conducting post-secondary recruitment campaigns, and all of them were promising challenging careers and the opportunity to “hit the ground running” in their new job.

[CPSR]: How was the recruitment process?

[NH]: It was a very busy time at school – my schedule was overloaded so I could finish my master's early and I was working part time. The online application process was way too time-consuming. I remember coming home from school at eleven o’clock at night and being bombarded with midnight deadlines. I tried to complete the applications, but they were ridiculously tedious. I realized quickly that I wouldn’t be able complete all of the separate applications, so I focused on a single process.

[CPSR]: And you were successful?

Yes, in November, I got an e-mail from the government – I had been screened in for an interview and I was to bring my transcripts and three letters of recommendation to the interview. Unfortunately I only had 4 business days to gather all the documents. This was no easy task given that even simple administrative requests take weeks at most Universities. I wondered how I would track down professors and past employers and lobby them for recommendation letters in such a short time frame. I did however manage to gather everything I needed for the interview. I was very nervous. I had never been interviewed for a position in government before. After completing the interview I was satisfied but unsure if the answers I had provided were the ones they were looking for.

[CPSR]: Were they?

[NH]: They were. In late December I was notified again by e-mail that I made it through the screening process and was invited to attend a two-day interviewing process. The itinerary was intimidating. The days started at 8 in the morning, and included breakfasts, lunches, dinners, receptions, meeting managers, meeting past recruits, interviews, and tours of the Parliament building.

[CPSR]: Sounds like a pretty full day.

[NH]: It was. The entire experience was absolutely overwhelming.

[CPSR]: How did it feel to be lumped in with the country’s ‘best and brightest’?

[NH]: I was proud that I had been selected from a group of seven thousand applicants. The recruiters telling me how much the public service needed me, and how our skills would help ensure that Canada’s public service remained one of the best in the world sure didn’t hurt either. Collectively the group was made to feel as though we would all find ourselves filling a specific niche in fast-paced working environments. There was also a lot of emphasis placed on our ability to quickly move through the ranks of the public service via the development program, and we were reassured multiple times that the entry level wages were just the tip of the financial iceberg.

[CPSR]: You had said earlier that you were disappointed with your first experience working as a co-op student, how did this experience change that?

[NH]: I was glad to see that the public service impressed me. The process was long and tiring but given the commitment shown in the recruitment process, I had my heart set on getting a position.

[CPSR]: And you got a position, didn’t you?

[NH]: By the middle of January I had received two separate offers from the same department. I was absolutely ecstatic and considered this to be one of my greatest achievements. My family, friends, professors and colleagues were all equally proud of me. I felt like all of my hard work had paid off, and I was eager to put myself to the test. I accepted the job of policy analyst and I couldn’t believe that it took only two months to transition from grad school into a wonderful new job in the public service.

[CPSR]: Congrats, it took me about 8 months to make the same jump. How was it when you started your work, did you ‘hit the ground running’ in a high-paced working environment?

[NH]: Despite coming in really pumped from the recruitment process, the first week on the job was very slow. My manager was away and the rest of the team generally kept to themselves. I spent the first week eating lunch alone.

[CPSR]: Your new colleagues ignored you altogether?

[NH]: No, they introduced themselves, but quickly went back to their cubicles without giving it a second thought. Later on another PSR started and despite our differences we got along smashingly. Having someone to relate to took a lot of the edge off.

[CPSR]: You said your manager was away when you started? How did you keep busy?

[NH]: I tried to navigate my new work environment the best I could. I tried to read as much as possible. I tried to stay positive, and remind myself that beginnings are always difficult. I was fully expecting things to pick up as soon as my manager came back from vacation. I figured she would be able to clarify my tasks and help me learn the ropes.

[CPSR]: Did things change when your manager returned?

[NH]: Sadly, not much changed. It took days before a “welcome to the team” e-mail was even sent out to our group and the rest of the directorate to introduce me and the other PSR. A senior team member introduced me around, but that was about as much interaction I had with my team.

[CPSR]: Did you meet with your manager to discuss what you were experiencing?

[NH]: No, for weeks, my manager seemed busy and distracted. We never sat down for an introduction, and I never got the opportunity to tell her who I was or how excited I was to be there. It quickly became apparent that there was no plan for me. I was assigned small tasks on an ad-hoc basis. I languished in my cubicle, even though my team appeared to be busy.

[CPSR]: In retrospect, how would you compare your expectation and your experience after having completed the PSR?

[NH]: The promises made to me during the recruitment process were absolutely false. I was not hired to fill a specific need nor was I working in a fast-paced environment. The development program had been on hold for over a year and was not accepting new candidates. I felt betrayed and desperate. I tried several times to talk to my manager, but for some reason we could never have an honest conversation. It seemed to me like she was more interested in making me feel thankful for what I did have, rather then addressing what was missing. I repeatedly struggled to find the right words to express my concerns, but I left every meeting feeling helpless.

[CPSR]: If things were that bad, why not just leave? You were successful once, you could do it again.

[NH]: I have a very strong sense of loyalty, I wanted her to know how grateful I was to have the job and that I was more then ready to work hard. I didn’t want to sullen my professional image. I was not looking for special treatment.

[CPSR]: What could she have done in order to help guide you through the situation?

[NH]: A simple informal meeting with my manager would have helped greatly. If she had sat down at the outset and said: “The beginning of your public service career will most likely be uneventful. Don’t expect to do a lot of high profile work during this time; you need to learn about the process first. But don’t worry I have a plan for you, over the next year I want you to immerse yourself in your file and become an expert on it. You need to practice these skills and abilities. Here are a handful of conferences that may be of interest. I am trying to set you up to be successful in the future. If you follow through with this then bigger things will inevitably come your way.”

[CPSR]: So having a game plan and a position is probably all you needed to make you feel better about the way things had turned out? Did you ever have that meeting?

[NH]: No, it never came, and I never found out exactly what was planned for me. I felt like little more then an office decoration. I remember attending a team meeting a few months after my start date and having literally NO idea what my team mates were talking about because I either wasn’t in the loop by accident or I was purposely kept out of the loop. I was reaching the boiling point, if I had not had a large student debt looming over my head, I would have quit.

[CPSR]: You aren’t still in that boat, are you? Withholding your resignation due to financial pressures?

[NH]: No, in May I attended the Orientation to the Public Service, a mandatory two-day training session offered by the Canada School of Public Service. While courses were somewhat useful, what the two-day training session offered was a chance to speak to other new public servants. Some of whom had been working for the Government for over a year and were willing and able to provide help and advice. I have kept in contact with some of them, and their helpful guidance has been a bright light at the end of the dark “new public servant” tunnel.

[CPSR]: Does anything in particular standout?

[NH]: One person in particular has encouraged me to get involved in the workplace. He taught me that nothing precludes you from trying to make your present work environment better, while looking for a better work environment to work in. Most importantly he has shown me that I am not alone in my struggles. He helped me discover that there are other intelligent and capable new hires who were not being used to their full potential but who refused to just resign themselves to that as a cold hard fact. His determination to affect change, even in the smallest modicum, is most encouraging.

[CPSR]: So things are getting better?

[NH]: Yes, my state of mind has definitely improved – I have gained the confidence to voice my honest concerns to my colleagues, and I have spoken to my manager about my needs. I am feverishly applying to positions all over the government and am already being screened into the processes. In short, I feel more at home in the public service. Given the opportunity for mobility within the public service, I feel confident that I will be able to find a position that gives me what I need as well as uses my full potential to the advantage of the organization.

[CPSR]: Do you have any final words of wisdom, or lessons to share with our readership?

[NH]: My one piece of advice to new public servants, especially those who are struggling, would be to get out and meet people. Despite its shortcomings, the public service is filled with knowledgeable and extremely friendly people who are willing to help you when you need it. Never hesitate to ask for help, and never turn down an opportunity to meet with a colleague. Often, a 15-minute coffee break can do more for your career development or morale than an entire day at your desk. Creating and maintaining networks is crucial, learning from them, paramount.

[CPSR]: Thank you so much for agreeing to this interview, and good luck.


*** please note that NH is not actually pictured above ***

Round-Up: August 26th

News

FYI the BC public service is on a recruiting drive if anyone is looking for a change of venue on the west coast.

Blogs

Etienne has posted his 'Personal' PS Renewal Vision, here's a taste:

One inherent danger of setting specific priorities and objectives for PS Renewal, is that we may pursue them at the expense of equally important factors that might impact the end results or even cancel off all our efforts. Such is the case with recruitment. There’s no question that shorter delays in external recruitment campaigns are critical in order to get the “best and the brightest”. But assuming we can get them in, how long will they stay? If the public service keeps welcoming new hires the way it currently does, maybe not that long… If you think the public service does rather poorly when it comes to recruitment, here’s a news for you: it’s generally downright awful when it comes to the on-boarding process, i.e. the first few days, few weeks, few months they experience inside the public service. If we want to have the slightest chance of retaining the recruits we relentlessly worked to get through the door, we better take them seriously once they are in.

Weekend Round-Up August 11th

Developments @ CPSRenewal.ca

We may be doing our first podcast in the near future, we have an interview lined up and have been graciously offered the technical support to do it.

We would most likely be interviewing a recent hire to discuss his/her experience with the on-boarding (hiring) process.

Any thoughts?

Events

I just want to draw your attention to barcampOttawaGov. It is:

A chance for Government of Canada employees to get together and talk about what they're doing with social media and new technologies. A chance to meet others in communications, marketing, web development, design (and any other job description) to find some inspiration, some motivation and help build a community.

if you haven't seen it yet, check out the wiki here. Remember that this is not an official Government of Canada event - see you there.

News

Chamika sent in an interesting article in BusinessWeek entitled Six Reasons to Run from a Job Interview, and apparently Canadians are working less?

CPSRENEWAL.CA Weekly: In Conversation with New Public Servants

I had lunch recently with 3 young public servants, all of whom were relatively new to government. I have known the first for just over a month, the second for about two weeks, and the third I met on the spot. Needless to say, I didn’t know them too well, but was amazed at how open the communication was between us despite our relative unfamiliarity. Our conversation flowed freely and almost immediately gravitated to our common experience of work cultures, work loads, recruitment, competitive processes, and of course, management.

Communication Breakdown

Each individual conversation consistently gravitated to a single problem: the inability to raise their concerns with their manager, or worse, the perceived inaction of a manager upon hearing those concerns. Having had similar experiences in the past I offered what advice I could, but what is interesting is not the advice I gave, but what they had said:

“I feel like I got cheated. There was so much emphasis during the recruitment process on wanting the best and brightest, independent and analytical thinkers, to fill challenging positions and make a difference and now … well now I sit around, being underutilized. How do I bring that up to my manager?”

“When I raise my concerns, I’m told to appreciate what I have or how much better off I am than [my manager] was when she started. That is completely beside the point? I want to be challenged, how do I ask for more work? What if she refuses to give me any?”

“Who is doing the actual work around here? I never included and when I am, I’m at a complete loss because I was kept in the dark for so long. Everyone else seems to have enough work to do. I want to make a contribution but I can’t when I am systematically excluded. How do you tell your manager that you want more work, when your manager’s judgment of your group and level determines your workload as opposed to your ability or competencies?”

(Comments above are reproduced with permission.)

I think it is important to note the sharp contrast between the ease of communication between what amounts to a group of relative strangers compared to the difficulty of communication between employees and their managers. Could a new hire really look at their manager and say, “If things don’t improve over the next year I am gone” and expect their situation to get better?

[Aside: I could not help but recall chapter two of Etienne Laliberté’s paper an Inconvenient Renewal in which he discusses the critical link between management and employees’ decision to stay in or leave an organization. I would suggest reading it (again) at this point.]

Difficult Conversations

Generally speaking, I think there is an implicit level of trust among new workers that has yet to be developed between managers and new workers. It is not at all surprising given generational differences and power dynamics between new hires and managers. In some cases new employees, especially contract or term employees seeking permanency, avoid the risk of alienating their managers at all costs because they fear the repercussions of the power dynamic: (further) reduced workloads, withholding references, poor references, expired contracts, negative feedback spread by word of mouth, to name a few.

The result is that new hires lack the sure footing (i.e. experience) required to approach their managers to resolve issues around workloads, processes, greater involvement and career advice. This isn’t the case across the board so there is no need to hit the panic button, however, in my experience it is widespread enough to be of some concern (just ask the three people I spoke with).

Since new hires are unsure about how to approach the situation, managers having considerably more experience, should step up and fill the gap. Managers should take the lead, set the tone early, have conversations (like the one I had), provide feedback and ask for input. This is not an easy task. However, managers that are actively (and effectively) managing files, people and careers are the same ones that are attracting all the top talent (precisely for those reasons).

Every new hire is looking for that manager. Every new hire will continue to hum and haw and shuffle around the public service until they find one. David Eaves' latest blog post speaks directly to this when he says:

“[W]here you work in the public service (and often who you work for) is far more important than what file you work on.”

I wanted to end this column with another interesting point of consensus from around the table at my discussion with my colleagues. It is one that needs no elaboration, no explanation, and the implications of which should ring loudly in everyone’s ears:

“I’m willing to stick it out for a year then I’m gone.”